The Brookhaven board of aldermen received an award as the 2012 Local Government Recycler of the Year from a Department of Environmental Quality official at the Tuesday night board meeting.

     Mark Williams, of DEQ, presented the award, which was bestowed by the Mississippi Recycling Coalition.

     “Thank you for a great effort at starting your recycling,” Williams told aldermen Tuesday night,

     Williams went on to describe Brookhaven as a model community for its recycling efforts. He praised the path the city took, from setting up a committee of aldermen and involving concerned citizens, to starting with a public program and emphasizing education before ramping up into a full curbside program.

     “You’re well on your way to having one of the best programs in the state,” Williams said.

     Williams highlighted the potential of recycling as an economic development tool, talking up the possibility of Brookhaven as a regional recycling hub.

     Ward Six Alderman David Phillips has previously discussed the same possibility, hoping that a recycling collection center might eventually locate in Brookhaven.

     Phillips, along with Ward Two Alderman Terry Bates and Ward Four Alderman Shirley Estes are members of the board’s recycling committee.

     The recycling award was originally presented last Friday in Jackson, but only Ward Five Alderman D.W. Maxwell was able to attend.

     In other business, Mike McKenzie of WGK engineering, briefed aldermen on the status of repairs to the Linbrook Business Park water tower.

     The tank was apparently shot twice at the end of December, causing leaks to erupt in the water tank.

     The holes have now been patched from the inside and the tank refilled, McKenzie said.

     The water tank can’t go back into operation, though, until tests have cleared that the water in the tank has been properly disinfected and is safe to drink.

     The bill for the repairs performed by Diamond Enterprise came to $12,300, said City Clerk Mike Jinks. The city’s insurance paid for all but $2,500 of the repair work, which was the deductible for the repairs.

     The city has offered a $2,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in the tank’s vandalism.

     Alderman at Large Karen Sullivan also distributed a sketch to aldermen of a proposed archway design she wants to have installed at the entrance to Rosehill Cemetery.

     At Sullivan’s request, $15,000 has been allocated in the city budget to refurbish the cemetery’s entrance.

     Two competitive quotes are needed for the archway work before the project can move forward.